San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-09-19
MONDAY. SEPTEMBER, 10, 1887.
A OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
The great centennial celebration ID
over. The review, the civic display,
the receptions, the speeches, the ban
Quets, the tree paintings are now things
of the past. The progress made by this
great nation from the adoption Of that
constitution, one hundred years since,
until this present, and the clrcum-
stances and events which have Charac-
terized that progress form the history Of
the first OLe hundred years Of this re-
public. Looking over the pages OF that
record, written and unwritten, one
naturally CODjecture5 whether the ma
ton has passed its greatest dangers GGd
has faced permanently towards national
stability and greatness, or, II in the I'M
known years that lie before she shall
tind her pathway beset with dangers
and her Institutions menaUed by inter-
nal foes. Whether, before alU.hrr GEN.
tennlal university rolls round its num-
dred years the republic wlu have gone
the way Of the mighty republics OF older
eras and persisted by the force Of inter-
nal dissents; or, whether, gathering
greatness and stability with the years
she shall root herself like the eternal
hills and bid defiance to all dlslnteg-
rating forces These are the questions
naturally suggested ~ We stand upon
the threshold of our second century of
national existence and front the ineyita-
Bile. Who, among the vast thousands
that thrOnged this centennial Celubra-
ton, will look upon another?
The changes that take place in the
personnel of u nation rIlingly type the
changes that take place in her institu-
tiOns. The spirit of nation Is only the
embodiment of the spirit Of her people
The simplicity OF 1887 contrasts strange
" with the artificial conditions OF So
ciery in 1857. The greed for wealth and
the unsCrupulOusness which character
ICES the methods OF mOney-making; the
syndiCatus, rings, trust companies, cor
ners and all other combinations OF
money to possess the wealth Of the
whole people have created spirit OF
grssping which is felt in political as
well as in speculative and commercial
circles. The lust of wealth is only one
form of the lust OF power. 1t has pre-
cipItated itself into the whole political
system of the nation. Only the men of
money or the men who can command
money may successfully enter the pOllti-
cal arena. Public Office is no longer a
public trust committed to the care of
worthy men as the free gift of their fell
low citizens. Public Office is the prey of
designing men, and its emOluments are
the brides with which political bench
men are paid for dishOnOrabie measures
Of political procedure. These changes
changes which demonstrate great de-
parture from tue simplicity of the faith
ers, have come in these hundred years.
What will they not lead to in the next
hundred? No man knoweth. The brakes
must be put upon the wheels of this
downward progress toward corruption,
or the next centennial will find this ma
tion shorn of its strength. The strength
of any government lies solely in the ap-
probation of her worth by her citizens.
There can be no appreciation of such
worth when the law Of political ad-
vancement is along the lines Of political
corruption and when money not worth
Is the indispensable prerequisite to
public Office. The question still I'M
solved is this-Will the people swing
round to their old moOrings and take the
political reins In their own hands, as of
old, or will they continue to sell them
selves as political slaves in the house of
corruption? Upon its answer depends
the future Of these United States.